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Writing is something that I do all the time (hence the ranting). It's not my hobby, it's my way of expression.When I'm upset I write, when I'm happy I write. I'm not great at it, but I've never given up on it.

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Monday, 8 August 2011

DEEDS AND THOUGHTS

"Since our childhood, we've been told that fasting is a noble form of worship during which a person should not only control their hunger and thirst but also their anger, hatred and all negative emotions. Muslims, apart from praying and reciting the Holy Quran, are supposed to be especially tolerant and kind towards the others during this month."

The other day I was busy surfing the internet (read surfing my Facebook profile) when I heard gunshots. I first thought they were firecrackers and so didn't get up. I know this sounds stupid but in my defense, I didn't have any reason to believe that someone in my area would shoot anyone in broad daylight. Still, the sound made me uneasy so did the fact that it was frequent, so I finally got up to peep through the window in my mother's bedroom which provides a clear view of the street. As I approached the window, I looked at my mother questioningly who had only just moved away from the window.

'It's Humail Sahab's son-in-law.' She took the name of our neighbor who lived across the street. 'He shot a cat.' I furrowed my eyebrow at this piece of information.

'Why would he do that?' I asked and she shrugged in answer.

'I don't know. People are gathering up, the guard is there too.' She said and moved away as I peered through the window. A cat (white with grey spots), lay soaked in her blood which was splattered on the driveway of the house as well. It made me shudder. People were gathered there and I saw my own brother who had gone outside to see what had happened. The 'son-in-law' who fired came down with a shovel as well with which he started to lift the carcass of the cat. with some effort he lifted her and carried her away, came back, poured some mud over the splattered blood and went back in. My brother came back and told us that he'd killed her because she ate two of his chicks.

Nobody said a word to him.

All of this happened in the 'Holy month of RAMZAN'. The guilty was obviously fasting, as he is said to be very 'religious', and had a long beard as well. I describe his appearance because such people are supposed to be respectable in our society as they are very close to God because of their 'religious' appearance.

We keep yelling that our religion is the most peaceful of all and that it gives equal rights to everyone, human or not. And yet the world hates us and call our religion a corrupt and violent one. With such implementation of these rights, I can't blame them neither can I negate them. We focus more on appearance than our actions. In our arrogance of our assumption that we alone know all that Islam is all about, we ignore many obvious teachings of this esteemed religion. We forget that God has made us human and being so we have to be kind to our fellows. We forget that God has told us to respect every creature He has created. We forget that He's told us that He might forgive our lack of worship but He won't forgive us if we compromise on the rights of any of our fellows until the subject forgives us. Religion is about love and tolerance, not about deeming each other hell-worthy. Such is our level of tolerance that if someone dares to act against our wishes we'll punish them without thinking that the authority to punish does not lie with us.

I know a lot of people will say that I'm getting worked up on a small incident and such things happen all the time and that, it was only a cat that was killed and no human. But for me that's the whole point. All the cat did was act like a cat. Eating chicks is normal for cats, they don't care if they belong to someone, all they know is that they'll provide them some food to survive. They are animals. But we, the humans, are supposed to know better aren't we? If a person can kill a cat for having her lunch, then who can guarantee that he won't advance to killing his fellows for annoying him tomorrow? A person with no respect for another life can cross all boundaries of cruelty, no problem. And by staying quiet, we'll let them.